Matthew 23:16-22; Blind Fools “Seven” Themselves to God

“Whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.” Jesus in Matthew 23:22

Inigo Montoya: But, I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top…I could give you my word as a Spaniard.  Man in Black: No good. I've known too many Spaniards... Inigo Montoya: I swear on the soul of my father, Domingo Montoya, you will reach the top alive. Man in Black: Throw me the rope.  (Princess Bride, 1987)

“No one demands an oath from those whose word is known to be their bond.”  (F.F. Bruce, Hard Sayings of Jesus)

 “I swear to God,” is an oath all of us have heard when someone is trying to convince a skeptical listener that they are telling the truth.  And many believe crossing our fingers behind our back negates any verbal oath, including swearing to God.  While mostly done in innocence or ignorance, this practice should be examined in the light of Holy Scripture.  

At least the scribes and Pharisees would not be so brash as to swear an oath directly to God, as we flippantly do today.   However, the fact that they swore oaths at all and swore by lesser things than God, they still profaned the name of God.   

  

Although Jesus said earlier that we should “make no oath at all” (Matthew 5:34), the Pharisees created a hierarchy of oaths that led to confusion and even at times, greater judgment (see James 5:12).  As usual, the scribes and Pharisees made the basic things of God complex, turning God’s value system upside down and robbing God of His glory.  They were more than hypocrites; they were blind guides (v. 16) since in their false teaching they led others astray.  

The scribes and Pharisees taught if one swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold in the temple is obligated (v. 16).  Likewise, whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated (v. 18).   In their corruption of oaths, they also revealed their idolatry.   For them, the gold was worth more than the temple that sanctified the gold (v. 17).  The offering was worth more than the altar that sanctifies the offering (v. 19).  They valued mammon over God and worshiped the lesser of two masters (Matthew 6:24).   

I was visiting a Orthodox Church in Timisoara, Romania some years back.  On the altar was a memorial for someone who had recently died.   I was a little amused that among the items on the altar was a can of Diet Coke.  According to the value system perpetuated by the Pharisees, that Diet Coke is more sacred than the altar on which it was placed.

Jesus explains: Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it (v. 20).  And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells in it (v. 21).   Jesus’ point is “the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains” (Psalm 24:1).  The majesty of God transcends who He is and flows into His creation. 

Unger’s New Bible Dictionary teaches that the word “oath” comes from the Hebrew word “ala” (where the Muslims get their word for God, “Allah.”)  To make an oath in Hebrew meant literally “to call upon God.”  Unger goes on to say “swear” is from the Hebrew “sheba” or seven.  To swear meant to literally “seven one’s self.”   The Pharisees would not “seven themselves” directly to God; rather they would swear by heaven or something one step removed from God.  Jesus’ responded: whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it (v. 22).

Whether one swears by the soul of his father, a stack of Bibles (as I heard said today on ESPN radio), the gold in the temple or by heaven, that person is essentially swearing directly to God.  When we make any oath or feel we must swear by the things of God, we are saying that our word given plainly is not trustworthy.  More importantly, we take the holy name of God in vain for our personal gain and thus violate one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:7).  

Our Lord is passionate for His Father’s glory; Jesus is determined that His glory alone is to be exalted.  For God has said, “I am the LORD…My glory I give to no other” (Isaiah 42:8).   The use and abuse of oaths robs God of His glory.   As His redeemed, let our statement be, ‘Yes, yes,’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil, so says our Lord (Matthew 5:37).

Matthew 23: 13-15 Jesus, Passionate for God’s Glory

“you make him [a convert] twice as much a son of hell as yourselves,” Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees, Matthew 23:15

“The problem with current interpretations of Jesus’ character is that they all try to force him into their own mold. They deny the miracles, the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection, of course, and make Jesus out to be a gentle teacher of platitudes… perfectly reasonable and urbane.” (Reverend Dr. Peter Mullen, www.dailyreckoning.co.uk,  Feb 27, 2008)

“A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependency on Him, of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom.”  (Jonathan Edwards, Puritan Pastor, 1703-1758)

Aaah, the days of innocence!  The days of Vacation Bible School and Sunday School in the American church.    Jesus is shown wearing a white robe, of Northern European race, holding a lamb, moving about on a flannel board at the whims of a loving middle-aged mom teaching the lesson.   This picture is very holy and mostly true.  But not Biblically complete. 

Scripture adds another side of Jesus.   Jesus of righteous anger.  Jesus of wrath.   Jesus not politically correct.   True, there is no greater love than that of Jesus (John 15:13); yet His love is passionate- passionate for God’s glory.   

Jesus continues to expose the scribes and Pharisees for who they really are: hypocrites.   From a distance, they are “good ole church goin’ folk.”  But upclose their actions reveal their dark hearts.  They shut off the kingdom of heaven from men.  They do not enter themselves or allow others who are entering to go in (v. 13).  (Wow, is that politically correct to say?)

Jesus came “to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).   Yet the scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of being “Beelzebul, the ruler of demons” (Matthew 9:34; 12:24), a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19).  They were “indignant” when He received praise (Matthew 21:15), and they were trying to “seize” (Mark 12:12), “trap” (Mark 12:13), and “destroy” (Luke 19:47) Him.  They tried to make the narrow way even narrower (Matthew 7:13-14).

Verse 14 is put in brackets in the New American Standard Bible translation (NASB) and is not included in other popular translations.  This is because the oldest and most reliable copies of Matthew do not include this verse.   However, we can still be confident that this is a genuine saying of Jesus because these very words are found in Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.   Matthew had a tendency to write his gospel topically (for example, the parables of chapter 13).  Once he began with Jesus’ words about the Pharisees, he gathered more of those sayings (i.e., Luke 11) into this one location.  

The scribes and Pharisees would devour widows’ houses by convincing widows to give large parts of their estate to them.   The Pharisees probably told the widows that their husbands’ salvation would be guaranteed if they did this (just as the Christian church did in the Middle Ages with the selling of indulgences).  And long prayers would be given as a pretense to justify and sanctify this practice of ripping off widows, in spite of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:7.  

In the second (or third) woe listed, Jesus accuses the hypocrites of traveling on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, he is twice as much a son of hell as they are (v.15).  New converts often show a zealousness that leads to greater religious activity, and in this case, resulting in more evil.  Verse 15 should give pause to those engaged in missions. Don’t we travel over land and sea in pursuit of converts?   Are we too condemned?  It depends on our hearts.  

In our missionary zeal, are we motivated by our own glory and thus guilty of making sons of hell?  Or are we motivated by the love, grace and glory of God?  The Pharisee Saul was confronted with this question on the road to Damascus as he traveled on land in pursuit of his religious enemies (Acts 9:1-2).  On that road Saul was so overwhelmed by the glory of God that it changed his life (Acts 9:3-5).  Saul became Paul and Paul changed the world (Romans 15:19).   And history.   

What is our passion?  If our over-riding passion is to make ourselves look good, then we will not survive the grave.  If our passion is to make God look good, then we will live and reign with Him forever in His city for His glory (Revelation 22:5). 

Matthew 23:6-12: The True Place of Honor

“The greatest among you shall be your servant,” Jesus in Matthew 23:11

“The cause of Christ is greatly dependent on the self-forgetting souls who are satisfied to occupy a small sphere in an obscure place, free from self-seeking ambition.”  (John MacArthur, Commentary on Matthew 8-15)

“The party don’t start until I walk in.” (Keesha)

"I'm the king of the world, I am the greatest, I’m Muhammad Ali. I shook up the world, I am the greatest, I'm king of the world, I'm pretty, I'm pretty, I'm a bad man, you heard me I'm a bad man.”  (Before his fight against Sonny Liston, 1964)

"I have been placed in this job for a purpose, and I am just trying to make great movies and keep my eyes on Him. I don't deserve any praise....It is definitely all God's hand that I get to do this. And who knows how long this will last? He may choose someone else."  (Ralph Winter, movie producer of “X-Men” and “Planet of the Apes;” www.beliefnet.com )

Jesus continues His exposure of the scribes and Pharisees while in the temple during the week leading up to His crucifixion. The very group that sought to trap Him (Matthew 22:15) was unable to respond to any of Jesus’ questions (Matthew 22:46).  Jesus sheds light on the motives of the scribes and Pharisees: “And they love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places and being called by men, Rabbi” (vv. 6-7).  

This is not the only place where Jesus confronts this religious practice.   In Luke’s gospel Jesus teaches that we should not pursue the seats of honor at a wedding feast.  Rather, we should “go and recline at the last place, so that [the host] may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher,’” (Luke 14:10).  This was an issue also for the early Christians. James rebukes them because in their services they would “pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’” (James 2:3).

Jesus also instructs that we should call no one Rabbi (v. 8).  Ironically the only disciple that Matthew records referring to Jesus as “Rabbi” is Judas: at the Last Supper while speaking of betrayal in Matthew 26:25 and at the moment of betrayal in Matthew 26:49.  Neither, Jesus says, should we call anyone on earth your Father (v. 9) or Leader (v. 10).    The issue is not the use of titles per se, but the use of titles in such a way that, according to the English Standard Version Study Bible, gives “undue spiritual authority to a human being, as if he were the source of truth rather than God.”

Matthew records several occasions when Jesus is asked, “Who is the greatest?”  In each case Jesus says, “The greatest among you shall be your servant,” (v. 12; Matthew 18:4, 20:26).  Jesus turns an instinctual value of man on its head. Who is the greatest according to People Magazine?  Forbes?  Muhammad Ail?  Contemporary Christian culture?  And who does Jesus say is the greatest?

And in case we miss it the first time, Jesus says it again differently: “And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and who ever humbles himself shall be exalted,” (v.12).   We all want to be liked; we all want to see that LIKE button pressed on our facebook statuses.  We all want to be the life of the party.    But Jesus points us to a greater LIKE than the mere applause of men, which fades quickly.  Jesus points us to an eternal LIKE: His joy, His rest, His home, His heaven…Himself.  There will no longer be any death, crying or pain (Revelation 21:4).  And we will reign with Him forever and ever (Revelation 22:5).  This applause will never fade. 

And Jesus is our example of humility.  For Paul tells us that, “though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,  being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” (Philippians 2:6-11, ESV).

The test of being a servant, says my pastor Ronnie Stephens, is how we respond when people treat us like a servant.   As Christians we must constantly guard against the craving for man’s approval as our source of identity.  I know I must.  May our place of honor not be at the head of the table, but at the foot of the cross, where we find our redemption.  Forever and Ever.  With Him.  Amen. 

Matthew 23:5 “Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours,”

“They do their deeds to be noticed by men,” Jesus speaking of the Pharisees, Matthew 23:5

“Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely yours, G.K. Chesterton”  (Early in the 20th century the London Times asked a number of scholars and authors to write on the topic, "What's Wrong with the World?" Chesterton's {1874-1936} submission was by far the shortest.)

“What angered Jesus during His last week was not the apostles’ confusion.  He wasn’t upset by the people’s demands.  He didn’t lose his temper with the soldiers and their whips nor explode with Pilate and his questions.  But the one thing he could not stomach was two-faced faith:  Religion used for profit and religion used for prestige.” (Max Lucado, And the Angels Were Silent)

In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus is exposing the scribes and Pharisees for who they really are.   It was the scribes, Pharisees and others who repeatedly tried to trap Jesus while He was teaching in the temple. (Matthew 21:23-22:46).    The most condemning statement, I believe, is when Jesus takes us into the heart of the Pharisees. He says, “They do all their deeds to be noticed by men” (v. 5). 

Christ then gives a specific example: “for they broaden their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments” (v. 5).  According to the Ryrie Study Bible, “A phylactery was a square leather box which contained four strips of parchment on which were written Deuteronomy 11:13-21, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Exodus 13:11-16, and Exodus 13:1-10.   During prayer one was worn on the forehead between the eyebrows and another on left arm close to the elbow.   They were held in place by leather bands, which the Pharisees made broad to attract more attention to themselves.” 

Devout Jews also wore tassels based on the Lord’s instructions to Moses as recorded in Numbers 15:38.  The tassels reminded the Jews to obey God’s commandments. Jesus upheld this law and was wearing tassels when a sick woman touched the tassels and was healed (see Luke 8:44).  As Ryrie mentions in his study Bible, “Christ criticizes not the custom itself but the spirit that corrupted it.” 

No other group was as vehemently opposed to Jesus as the scribes and Pharisees; Jesus openly condemned them.  Even though it is easy to criticize the Pharisees, we must guard against the Pharisee in us all.    Why did Jesus renounce the Pharisees?  After all, they obeyed the Law of Moses.   They let their light shine.   They didn’t hide their faith.   They seemed to be the perfect church member.   Why was Jesus so hard on them?  Motive.  Yes, they were religious people but for the wrong reasons.   Jesus said, “They do all their deeds to be noticed by men” (v. 5).  The Pharisees did not seek to glorify God; rather they sought to use God to glorify themselves.  

In what ways do we today broaden our phylacteries and lengthen our tassels?   The bigger the church, the godlier the congregation, right?   The more others see us share our faith, the more spiritual we are, correct?   The broader our area of responsibility, the more valuable we are, true?   We shun the broken, the burned-out and those at the bottom of the job chart.  Sometimes I notice inner tension when I write a prayer letter or update our blog.  On one-hand, I want to show God’s faithfulness.   On the other, I can be tempted by pride while telling others I am sharing Christ in a faraway land.   When pride wins, I’ve just lengthened my tassels.

This hurting world does not need us to shove our phylacteries in their noses to be reminded of how they don’t measure up.   They don’t need to see us “whip our tassels back and forth” to be shown we got it all figured out.   I cringe when we wear our Christian phylacteries into the political arena (I am guilty of this).  Now Christ is about “us vs. them” instead of “God loves you.”  Instead of broadening our phylacteries, we need to remember the greatest commandment: love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind and the second: love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).   We need to exalt the sufficiency of Jesus and not our own perceived sufficiency; we need to reveal our own brokenness and not remind others of their brokenness. 

I never met her, except on Facebook.  Her religious and political views were polar opposites of mine. Her sarcastic comments and atheistic boastings I found to be toxic.  We never really talked, rather we ranted at each other.  I wanted to win the argument about Christ more than I wanted to introduce her to Christ.  I flaunted my tassels before her.  I just found out she was killed in a car accident over the weekend.  Now she has been ushered before the very God she denied and argued against.  My heart hurts.

What’s wrong with the world?  We value religion over relationship. We value man’s glory over God’s glory.    We treasure our phylacteries more than treasuring the condition of our neighbor’s soul.  What’s wrong with the world?  Chesterton was spot on.